Book Review: Blackflies Are Murder

Reviewed By: Carol Schwaderer Dickinson - RAM

Blackflies Are Murder     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Lou Allin
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character
Series: Belle Palmer # 2
Napoleon Publishing/RendezvousPress, 2002, $10.95, 268 pages

Second in the Belle Palmer series, this story is set in rural Ontario near Sudbury. I loved her descriptions of the land. It was very reminiscent of my childhood experiences near my parents hunting cabin in rural Michigan.

I enjoyed her characters too. Belle Palmer an realator of a "certain age, lives in a rural neighborhood outside Sudbury where she and her dog can enjoy nature right outside the backdoor by hiking, boating, berry picking etc. When one of her neighbors, a dear friend, is brutally killed, Belle feels compelled to find out whether certain occurences in the neighborhood of concern to her might be contributing factors. Along the way establishes a friendship with a new neighbor a retired gentleman who purchased an adjoining property, learns a great deal about a neighboring young mother with some unruly dogs, investigates possible pollution and poaching in her backyard, and gets reacquainted with some old friends.

The plot was deceptively intricate and timely. Although on the surface this sounds like a cozy, the subject matter should intrigue many who feel the cozy genre is boring. I highly recomend this budding author, and I am certainly going to find a copy of her first book "Northern Winters Are Murder".

Carol Schwaderer Dickinson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Carol Schwaderer Dickinson - RAM